Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University and founding president of the Learning Policy Institute, created to provide high-quality research for policies that enable equitable and empowering education for each and every child. At Stanford, she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as faculty sponsor for the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign. She is also a former president of the American Educational Research Association and a member of the National Academy of Education. From 1994-2001, she served as executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, whose 1996 report "What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future" led to significant policy changes in U.S. education. Most recently, she was appointed President of the California State Board of Education by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Darling-Hammond's influence extends through her role in leadership during presidential transitions, having led the education policy transition teams for both President Barack Obama in 2008-09 and President Joe Biden in 2020. She was appointed President of the California State Board of Education in 2019. Her extensive publication record includes over 600 works, with notable books such as "The Right to Learn," "Teaching as the Learning Profession," "Preparing Teachers for a Changing World," and "The Flat World and Education," which won the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Education. Her pioneering research and advocacy work have earned her multiple awards, including the 2022 Yidan Prize for Education Research and recognitions from the American Educational Research Association for her significant contributions to educational scholarship and policy.

Beginning her career as a public school teacher, Darling-Hammond has also co-founded both a preschool and a public high school. She has held significant academic and leadership positions, including as Director of the RAND Corporation’s education program and as an endowed professor at Columbia University, Teachers College, before her tenure at Stanford. She continues to consult widely with federal, state, and local officials and educators on strategies for improving education policies and practices, and she holds 14 honorary degrees from institutions in the U.S. and internationally. Her academic credentials include an Ed.D. from Temple University (with highest distinction) and a B.A. from Yale University (magna cum laude).

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